1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the integrated circuit art, and more particularly to an improved integrated circuit package and connector therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The need for an improved integrated circuit packaging system has become critical from a profit standpoint, with companies that are trying to use highly developed electronic technology in commercial and consumer applications such as automotive, appliances, communications, industrial components, industrial systems, and the like.
The need stems from the inability of the otherwise excellent dual-in-line package (DIP) to physically meet manufacturing, testing, assembly, and servicing requirements that are being imposed thereon. This problem is due to the leads of the DIP not being strong enough for the manual and mechanical handling that they are receiving as they are being employed in a variety of new products.
This problem with the leads of integrated circuit packages, along with the desire to reduce costs, has led to the development of leadless integrated circuit packages of both the dual-in-line type and what has become known as large scale integrated circuit packages (L.S.I.). In place of leads, these leadless packages employ terminal pads located adjacent the edges of a flat ceramic substrate, and the terminal pads are connected to discrete solid state circuits mounted on the substrate. The DIP leadless package is usually rectangular and the terminal pads are located adjacent the opposite longitudinal edges. The L.S.I. substrate is square and is usually provided with terminal pads adjacent each of its peripheral edges. Specific positioning of the terminal pads is accomplished in three ways which are referred to as: face mount, side mount, and edge mount. The face mount technique places the terminal pads on one face, or planar surface of the substrate with the pads disposed adjacent to at least two edges. The side mount technique locates the terminal pads on two opposite edges of the substrate so that the pads are disposed in planes which are perpendicular to the planar surfaces of the substrate. The edge mount technique is similar to the commonly employed method used in printed circuit boards in that the pads are located on both planar surfaces of the substrate and are located adjacent the same one edge thereof.
Commericial acceptance of these leadless packages has been relatively slow due to various problems such as connectors for mounting and electrically interconnecting the packages with a backpanel such as a printed circuit board or wiring panel.
Various connector configurations have been employed or suggested for the various leadless connectors, with these prior art connectors being relatively bulky and multi-part complex structures.
A particular prior art connector, which is fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,262, issued on Sept. 9, 1975, to the same inventor, includes a base receptacle mounted on a backpanel and having contact means therein which are in contact with the backpanel. The receptacle is adapted to receive the circuit package therein so that the terminal pads thereof are in alignment with the contact means provided in the receptacle. A cover is removably mounted in the receptacle and is laterally slidable relative thereto into and out of engagement with inclined plane members formed in the receptacle. When the cover is moved into engagement with the inclined plane members it will be deflected downwardly and locked in place to load the terminal pads of the circuit package into conductive contact with the contact means of the base receptacle. This connector, while constituting a substantial improvement in the art, has some drawbacks, in that the wedging action provided by engagement of the cover with the inclined plane members is exerted only on three sides of the circuit package thus making it possible for unequal pressurization of the terminal pads on the fourth side of the circuit package to occur. Further, this prior art connector requires the use of tooling to accomplish the required lateral sliding of the cover thereof.
In view of the foregoing, the need exists for a new and improved integrated circuit package and connector therefor which overcomes some of the problems of the prior art.